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Walk of nature and discovery
Page 1 Lyrabeecher :After working at the mine one day, Lyra didn't feel like hurrying back to town to just go back inside again so she decided to go for a walk. Leaving the road, she began to wander through the meadows, enjoying just being outside. :There were a few patches of snow scattered about, but mostly the area was clear and the ground firm and dry. The air was crisp and not overly cold. The late afternoon winter sun glinted off a nearby stream. Coming upon a cluster of bushes, Lyra thought she noticed a flash of red. :Slowing her pace and taking care not to step on any twigs, she crept forward. Then Lyra saw it -- a cardinal flitting from branch to branch -- but then the bird noticed her and took flight. Lyra watched as the bright red bird flew towards the forest at the far end of the meadow. With a smile, thinking of the other creatures she might be able to observe in the forest, if she was lucky, Lyra followed. Lyrabeecher :Walking under the canopy of tree branches almost felt like walking into a cathedral. It was so still and peaceful. Lyra could no longer see where the cardinal went, but the trunk of a large, fallen tree caught her eye nearby. :Moving closer she noticed that the tree straddled the small stream. The water was swirling in little eddys and occasionally a dead leaf would float along on the surface. Lyra sat down on the end of the big log and gazed dreamily at the water flowing by. Mykali :After packing up all stuff needed for the long travel and locking up the house mykali starts walking south, after being on the road for a few hours he see's a pritty girl sitting on a big log at the bank of a little river. :He greets her, but keeps walking because he has to be in chester tonight if he wants to reach stafford tomorrow, while walking further he starts thinking :"Shame I couldn't talk to her, all because of that stupid trip, ah well i hope that somebody else will talk to her" Lyrabeecher :Lyra nods, smiles and waves at the man who was kind enough to greet her as he passed down the road. Roused from her water-gazing reverie, she stood and strolled along the stream for a little while. Then, she spotted what looked like deer tracks and decided to follow them. Lyrabeecher :As Lyra followed the deer tracks, the woods became denser and the light dimmer. She heard birds and squirrels chattering as she went but she saw nothing larger than a chipmunk that scurried from one patch of leaves to another in front of her. :Finally, resigned to the fact that she was not going to see a deer this day, Lyra decided it was time to find her way out of the woods and back to the road. Ahead to the left there appeared to be more light filtering through the leaves so Lyra headed in that direction. :Pushing her way past brambles and thorns, Lyra followed the light. Emerging through the tree line, she discovered that she was not actually coming out to the open meadows but instead entering a clearing in the middle of the woods. At the far end of the clearing, Lyra saw a cottage that was overgrown with vines and tall bushes. With a gasp, Lyra realized where she was and had to steady herself against a nearby tree as the shock of suddenly being here once again threatened to send her into a panic. Lyrabeecher :Dark memories from her time in that little cottage flashed through Lyra's mind. Fists raised in anger, evil words shouted, being pulled across the room by her hair ... these things happened so often that the memories were indistinct ... no one occurrence stood out from the rest. In thinking of these things, Lyra's fear began to abate and a numbness took its place. :Pulling up her left sleeve, Lyra looked at the scar on her forearm and thought of the red hot poker with which 'Sir' had once burned her when she hadn't done something fast enough. Her eyes narrowed as she allowed herself to fully feel the anger that had always been there but that she'd hidden out of her instinct for survival. :Looking back towards the cottage, Lyra thought with growing anger of her last day here ... :One dark and stormy night when Lyra was nearly 17 years old, 'Sir' had been out hunting and returned with a large rabbit in his hand. He and his catch were both dripping wet, creating a large puddle on the floor. 'Sir' threw the wet rabbit at Lyra, demanding that she clean it and the floor, as he grabbed a jug of ale and started to drink. Lyra set down the animal and turned to get something to mop up the floor. Suddenly, 'Sir' exploded and slapped her across the face, sending her reeling, "You stupid wench, fix my dinner first," he bellowed. As she turned back to where she left the rabbit, 'Sir' pulled off his wet coat and dropped it in a heap on the floor. Lyra glanced down at it but started to clean the rabbit. 'Sir' finished off his first jug of ale and sloshed through the puddle as he went to grab another when he stopped and looked at what Lyra was doing. "What are you doing?" he screamed, "Clean up the floor!" Then he grabbed Lyra by the shoulders, spun her around and delivered another hard slap to her cheek. Lyra stumbled backward, scared and unsure of what to do next. This seemed to further enrage 'Sir' who lunged after her to issue another beating, but his foot caught on his wet coat on the floor and slid out from under him. His head slammed into the corner of the table nearby before he could catch his fall. Lyra shrank back, sure that he would take it out on her. But, 'Sir' was very still, breathing unevenly but not otherwise moving. :"Sir?" Lyra asked tentatively. She was very frightened and at a loss for what to do. A flash of lightning from the storm outside pulled her attention away from the inside of the little cave-like house. She glanced down at the prone form at her feet. 'Sir' had fallen in such a way that he was between her and the door. With only the barest glimmer of a plan in mind, Lyra hitched up her ragged skirt, stretched one leg far out and, trying very hard not to touch him, stepped over the man who had held her captive for so long. Without looking back nor giving much thought to where she was going, Lyra ran out through the door into the dark rain and kept running as fast as she could until she was far, far away. :Tired of being afraid of the past, Lyra decided this was the time to face it. With a furious flurry of movement, Lyra began to act. First she found a thick and sturdy branch which would serve as a passable weapon should she need one. Pulling a few twigs off the branch, Lyra made a pile of brush on the ground and started a small fire from which she lit a makeshift torch. After kicking dirt onto the small fire to extinguish it, Lyra grasped the torch in one hand and the branch club in the other. Steeling herself against what she might face, Lyra began to cross the clearing towards the cottage. Lyrabeecher :As Lyra approached the cottage, something seemed strange though she didn't immediately know what. Then she realized that there was no smoke coming from the chimney. It was not normal for there to be no fire in the grate this time of year. :Coming round the corner towards the front door, Lyra saw that it was ajar and there was a pile of dead leaves at its base. She stood there for a moment as she absorbed the implications of what she saw. Her heart was pounding as she reached out with her long branch and slowly pushed the door open with it. :Lyra recoiled from the sight and smell inside the cottage. So, now she knew for certain that she need not have worried about 'Sir' pursuing her -- he had not survived the accident on the night she escaped from him. Her mind was racing -- what to do next? Then, she knew -- there was something she'd forgotten the night she ran away. :Using her branch, Lyra dug a small hole in which she propped her torch so that she could have use of both hands. Lyra pulled a large handkerchief from her pocket and tied it around her face, covering her nose and mouth. After taking a deep breath of the clean, fresh outdoor air, she picked up her big branch and went inside. With the branch, she pushed on 'Sir's body and maneuvered it so that she could walk around and not have to step over it to get inside. :Moving over to 'Sir's bed, Lyra dropped to her knees and looked underneath. She reached and dragged out a large leather satchel. Lyra paused long enough to open the satchel for a quick glance to see that it contained what she thought it might. Satisfied, Lyra stood and looked around briefly while fighting the urge to retch from the rotten smell. There was nothing else here that she wanted so she rushed back outside. :Gasping and gulping the fresh air, Lyra pulled off her handkerchief. She looked down at the satchel in her hand. She sat on the ground and opened it for a closer look at the contents. Pushing aside some random papers, Lyra pulled out a large ledger. She remembered seeing 'Sir' writing in this over the years. Now that she could read it for the first time, she was gratified to see that it was indeed what she'd expected... a detailed history of business dealings covering roughly the last fifteen years. Flipping through the pages, Lyra found entries dated about eleven years ago. Looking more closely through the entries on those pages, Lyra saw a few entries listing: N. Beecher -- Stafford Coun. -- 180. :Lyra didn't know what the number indicated, but she didn't really care. This was the most specific clue she'd ever found about where her parents used to, and maybe still, live. Hastily shoving the ledger back into the satchel, Lyra leapt to her feet. Picking up the torch, she briefly considered using it to burn 'Sir's corpse but decided against that, not wanting to start a forest fire. :Instead, she turned her back on the clearing, to retrace her steps to get back to the road. She wanted to begin her journey south as soon as possible. Category:Histories